Parent involvement key for kids

Juan Cofield, president of the New England Area Conference of the NAACP, is putting his organization’s credibility behind what has long been a tough assignment for educators — getting parents of at-risk students involved in their children’s education.

The renowned civil rights organization will partner with the Massachusetts Teachers Association in an effort they hope will help reduce the achievement gaps between groups of students in the state.

The two influential organizations plan to work together to increase the number of educators of color, encouraging and supporting more highly qualified and experienced educators to work in low-income schools, providing teachers and administrators with resources to support excellent teaching and learning, and examining and addressing racial disparities in school discipline and reducing school suspensions.

Still, Mr. Cofield, whose organization has long held education as “key to the success of students of color,” believes that the secret to high academic achievement is based on a simple formula.

Outside of the commitment of the individual child, he said, there are three keys to early educational success: educational policies, an educator’s teaching style and the involvement of parents.

And the latter, in his view, is the most important of all.

“You can have an average teacher and policies that are not so terrific and still meet with academic success if you have a parent that is pushing the kid, checking his homework and motivating the kid,” he said.

Mr. Cofield is hoping to drive home this point in the coming weeks and months when the MTA and NACCP conduct a series of public forums to discuss the initiative.

“Communities and parents have a role in student achievement, and we will be emphasizing that in our advocacy,” he said.

“In terms of how you get the community involved, I think we have the credibility to help make that happen.”

The MTA effort to connect more significantly with the community outside of the classroom is not new. In Springfield the MTA with the local teachers union has undertaken a community connection program that includes home visits by teachers.

Earlier this week, the MTA released recommendations from teachers in low-income, urban school districts on how to reduce the achievement gaps.

The recommendations, made in collaboration with the MTA and New Voice Strategies, a nonprofit group focused on building networks for social change through the exchange of ideas, include “breaking the school-to-prison pipeline by reducing suspensions and promoting positive student behavior through in-school initiatives” and “strengthening school-community relations.”

Paul Toner, president of the MTA and formerly president of the Cambridge Teachers Association, said that since he assumed his current position, it had become clear to him that the MTA and local teachers unions must do a much better job of reaching out to community groups and parents.

“We need their support in order to provide the best possible education,” he said. “We need to know what’s working, and where they have concerns.”

The alliance between the MTA and the NAACP, announced yesterday, the same day Gov. Deval Patrick released a proposal to invest about $1 billion over 10 years on a number of education initiatives from access to early education to job training programs, might not have garnered much interest or discussion.

It could, however, pave one of the most cost-effective paths to raising student achievement.